My One True Friend
by No Longer Available Goodbye
Summary: One-shot.  Kagome lost her best friend when she was only eight years old.  To this day, she still longs for him.  But when she sees him again five years later, she begins to wonder is he is really what she wants.


A/N: This story was originally an essay for my English class. _**Then**_ the online essay scorer I was forced to submit it to said, "This essay is too long to be scored." I STAYED UP UNTIL MIDNIGHT WORKING ON THIS THING FOUR DAYS IN A ROW! So now I'm posting all over the Internet. Take THAT Mr. Dobrinski!

Anyway, because these characters weren't originally based off of the cast of Inuyasha, everyone is SUPER OOC, especially Inuyasha. But it's still a great story! If OOC bothers you alot, just mentally replace the names Inuyasha and Kagome with my original characters, Skyler and Lee.

Enjoy!

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Have you ever lost someone that was close to you? I bet you have. That shows just how cruel and cold this circle of life is. Did you remember how you felt when you heard the news? Did you feel empty and hollow as though you might never be whole again? Or perhaps did you feel as I did, so consumed with grief, you had the sensation you'd been consumed by the black waters of the Arctic Ocean. I was only eight when I lost him. No, I'm not talking about my brother or my father. I'm thinking of my dearest friend, Inuyasha Black. I known him since I was two and ever since then every wonderful moment of my life had been spent with him. I've been told we were much too young to really be "in love" - whatever that means - but I can't help but wonder what would have been, had he lived long enough. And that doesn't change the fact that even if we weren't "in love," I still loved him as though he were my most precious brother at the least.

Inuyasha's father had been reckless, though. He wasn't a bad person, not at all. But he'd never been patient, and he immediately became angry when he was forced to wait. This was all most obvious when he was driving. Whenever Inuyasha's father would offer to pick me up to take me someplace, my mother would always tell him she could do it herself, even if she was in the midst of cooking Christmas dinner. Well, one night, something must've truly been on Mr. Black's nerves because not only was he going nearly ten miles per hour over the speed limit, he ran a red light, or at least that's what the witnesses said.

The brand-new Ford he ran into killed both him and his family. The passengers in the Ford were only slightly injured. I could never understand it, but I always felt bitter towards those complete strangers. Somewhere in my heart I was aware that if Mr. Black had been more patient, none of this would have ever happened. There was absolutely no way any sane human could pin the blame on those innocent by-standers who had just been at the wrong place at the wrong time. But I had always thought of Mr. Black as such a kind person; I could hardly blame him for Inuyasha. Love does strange things to humans.

But enough with the past. As Albert Einstein said, "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." And I have moved on. Nearly. Inuyasha and I had a tradition that on every night of the new moon, which in our opinion is much more frightening than the full moon, we would make up the scariest story would could. Of all the things Inuyasha and I did together, this was my favorite. I loved the night of the new moon. So now, on the nights when the Man in the Moon didn't show his face, I'd walk to the graveyard in which Inuyasha rested and I'd put a piece of paper that I'd written a horror story on with his gravestone. Though I knew it was impossible, I'd always check in the morning to see if he'd written one back. Somehow, each time there no responding tale, my heart sank a little.

But other than that, I truly have moved on. I'd made a new friend named Sango who usually has my back, but she can be a little selfish sometimes. She doesn't go to the same school as me, but we still see each other on the weekends. There's also Rin and her circle of friends. She seems to enjoy chatting with her other friends, some of which I don't care for, more than spending time with me, but she's very sweet and we get along. I used to friends with a girl named Abigail, but she moved away to another city, so we lost touch.

The days came and went. I'm thirteen now, and seriously unpopular. I have no physical coordination, so it's like I'm a young version of Bella Swan, only worse. I don't wear makeup like the other girls do, and I've never been "asked out". Not that I'm complaining. I'm not grotesque, but I'm not supermodel material either. Actually, I'm pretty sure my face has a slight resemblance to a picture of a gargoyle I once saw, but my few friends reassure me otherwise.

Speaking of my few friends, Rin was once again trying to politely engage me in a conversation at lunch I could stand. Rin's friends tend to spend their time making jokes that, well, let's just say that they aren't things you'd say with a teacher around. Call me naïve, but I can barely listen to those sorts of things, so of course I'm not about to "discuss" them with Rin's friends. Not to mention I'm not all that talkative to begin with.

"So, Kagome," Rin began sweetly, "what are you going to be for Halloween?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. My mother suggested a Goth princess."

"You already are one!" shouted Sesshomaru from across the table. I shot him one of my freakiest death glares. "Oh, I'm so scared!" he said with sarcasm coating his voice. I simply rolled my eyes. He's not worth it, I told myself silently. After that I tuned out the conversation. I didn't feel the urge to be humiliated anymore.

On the bus ride home, I retrieved my cell phone from my purse and checked the calendar to see if I had anything planned after school. My eyes widened when I saw what I had previously input. "Wow," I muttered to no one in particular, "Halloween and the night of the new moon are tonight. Inuyasha would have killed for this." I immediately shook my head vigorously and gave myself a gentle slap on the cheek. I wasn't supposed to think about Inuyasha anymore unless absolutely necessary, like when I wrote my horror stories. I smiled slightly when I thought about the one I'd recently completed. It was my most terrifying one yet.

Later that evening, I silently devoured my dinner before I slipped out in order to travel to the graveyard. It wasn't that late at night, but I wanted to get this over with before engaging in whatever activities Halloween might bring. I silently stalked through the cemetery when I arrived. I'd learned to navigate around this eerie place by now, and I could quickly locate my beloved friend's grave. As I peered through the fog, I noticed the silhouette of a boy about my age standing near my destination. It struck me as odd, because Inuyasha hadn't had any family in the area, so I couldn't imagine who would be here at his grave. I was about to turn around and come back later when I saw the boy smiling at me. There was something about his smile that seemed warm and comforting. Make that warm, comforting, and familiar.

I slowly crept forward to the mysterious boy. As I got closer, I began to make out more of his features, everyone of them oddly familiar. And then I spotted his electric golden eyes. I was nearly come over with a wave of déjà-vu. Though the question in my head sounded crazy, I had to voice it. "Inuyasha, is that you?"

And then something even more insane happened. He nodded.

It was odd how calmly I reacted. Maybe because this is what I had been hoping for all along. Since the moment he died, my one true wish was to be able to see him again.

"I've missed you so much, Kagome," he whispered. His voice was so faint I could barely hear it "I've read all your stories. They're beautiful." He extended his hand. "Come with me. We can play together just like we used to when I was alive."

I stepped forward cautiously. "Are you a ghost?" I questioned timidly.

"Basically," he responded. He beckoned me with his hand. "Come."

I took another small step forward. "Why do you look like you're thirteen? You were eight when you-"

"I can appear as any age I choose," he explained impatiently. "I thought you'd like this better. Oh, please come with me Kagome. I've missed you so much. Come with me and it will be just like it used to be."

Hesitantly, I took his Inuyasha's hand and his face lit up, as though he were a blind man seeing the sun for the first time. His skin was colder than a winter night in Antarctica and looked as if vapor was emitting from it like dry ice.

He beamed at me again. "Thank you, so much, Kagome!" I squeezed my eyes shut and we vanished.

Immediately, I felt like my entire body was being forced into a tuna can. A tuna can that was being tossed around in a bounce house at about one hundred miles per hour. I felt a sharp pain in my chest, as though a dagger had been driven through my heart. Suddenly it was all gone. The pain, the sensation that I was being squeezed, everything had simply disappeared. I slowly opened my eyes and observed my surroundings. Everything was devoid of light. Complete blackness surrounded me. The only thing I could see was Inuyasha.

He was still beaming at me. "See?" he said cheerily. "That wasn't so bad."

"Where are we?" I questioned. There was something about the darkness that unnerved me. It seemed so… unnatural.

"We're in the Land of the Dead," Inuyasha said as nonchalantly as though he were telling me about the weather. "Don't worry," he reassured me when he saw my horrified expression. "It's no big deal."

"Um, Inuyasha?" I began timidly. "I really don't think-"

"Close your eyes," he interrupted.

"Inuyasha-"

"Close your eyes," he insisted again, "trust me."

I hesitantly closed my eyes, and hoped it was the right thing to do.

"Now picture something. It could be a place, a toy, an animal it doesn't matter."

I immediately thought of a resort my family had gone to for a vacation in Florida once. I could remember everything about it. The salty smell of the beach, the scorching sun, which would occasionally be relieved by a cool breeze…

"Are you imagining it?" Inuyasha asked.

I nodded.

"Now open your eyes."

Very slowly, I let my eyes flutter open. And there I was, in that very same tropical resort. The smells, the sights, it was all exactly as how I remembered it. I glanced over at Inuyasha who was wearing his brilliant smile. "See?" he whispered. "Isn't it wonderful?"

"It's beautiful!" I told him joyously. "I can't believe what I'm seeing."

Inuyasha's golden eyes sparkled. "I knew you'd love it!"

I can never be sure how much time I spent like that. Inuyasha and I took turns visualizing our greatest desires and having them appear right in front of us. I'd never been in such a perfect state of bliss in my short life. Inuyasha told me that for five years he'd had this ability, but there'd been no one to share his fantasies with. He couldn't bare his loneliness anymore, and so he had come for me. I felt so horrible about him having to be all alone for so long. I was so overjoyed that I could help him.

But I soon grew incredibly homesick. Even when I made my parents appear with the willpower of my mind, I knew it wasn't really them. They weren't my parents, just illusions. I soon realized how much I valued my life in the world of the living. I longed to see my friends again, including Sango, Rin, and even Sesshomaru. Finally, I asked Inuyasha to take me back to the world of the living.

He looked at me like I was crazy. "You can't go back, Kagome."

"What?" I cried. This couldn't be happening. It was a dream…

"Once you enter this world, you die. You can't go back. You're dead now. You belong here." He reached out to touch my shoulder, but I scampered away. His normally cheerful expression fell. "What's the matter?" he asked. "I thought this was what you wanted. For it to be just us, without any of those horrible people who mocked you or made you feel depressed. I thought things would be perfect this way."

"Inuyasha, I'm dead!"

He looked down at his feet in dismay, and I quickly felt like a monster for agonizing him, but I couldn't help my temper. I small part of me felt betrayed. It seemed like an eternity that I simply wondered around the worlds of my imagination. Inuyasha would always try to ease my anguish, but I didn't have the heart to talk to him. That is until the day he confided in me that he knew a way to bring me back to my family.

My originally dulled senses went on full alert. "Why didn't you say so earlier?" I practically squealed.

Inuyasha shifted his weight as he mumbled, "Because of the curse."

"What curse?" I asked quietly.

Inuyasha was silent for a moment before muttering, "The only way for you to go back to your world is for you to use the Diamond of the Dead. It will revive you, but it's cursed. It won't be long before Death reclaims your soul in a much worse way than it originally did."

But I was hardly even listening to him. I was ecstatic about the possibility of seeing my family again. "How do I get to it?" I asked him jubilantly.

He smiled slightly. "The same way you get to everything else around here."

He closed his eyes. Suddenly, everything around us went black. It was just like the first time I'd entered the Land of the Dead, but this time, right in front of me, I saw a pure white diamond, about twice the size of my fist.

I turned to Inuyasha. He smiled at me, as he usually did, but this time his expression seemed forced. "Maybe I'll see you again," he told me, "After all, you're my best friend."

I returned his grin, but like his, mine was unnatural. I hated good-byes, and as much as I craved my life in the world of the living, I want to be with Inuyasha just as desperately. "I know I'll see you again," I assured him. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Whether what took place there was a confession of true love or a reassurance of everlasting friendship, I'll never know. All I know is that my feelings for Inuyasha were and remain strong, and I yearned to be by his side.

We stood in silence for a moment before Inuyasha announced, "I have to leave."

I nodded, barely interrupting his words. He pulled me into a quick embrace that ended as suddenly as it began. I blinked and Inuyasha was gone.

Very slowly, I approached the diamond and touched it with the tip of my index finger. Rays of light emitted from it the moment I did. "Hmm," muttered a huge, booming voice that seemed to come from all directions, "you're aware of the terrible curse I carry, and yet you wish to proceed to world of the living anyhow?"

"Yes," I whispered meekly.

"Very well, then," the diamond's voice echoed. I grabbed hold of the diamond and closed my eyes.

I was spinning again. Around, and around until I felt my body slam onto the hard ground. I cautiously opened my eyes. I gasped when I realized that my body was sprawled on the ground right in front of Inuyasha's grave. I'd done it! I'd returned to the world of the living.

The first few days of my renewed life went by in a blur. A passerby had discovered my body. The person had taken me to the police station, where my parents had found me. They threw a fit over me. Sango seemed to have a spasm when I was reunited with her as well. Rin claimed she'd been worried sick over me, as she thought I was dead. Apparently I'd been on "Missing" posters around town for over a month. It wasn't until two days after I came back to life I realized I was still clutching the Diamond of the Dead. And it wasn't until a week after I was revived that the idea hit me.

One lazy Saturday morning, I sauntered down the stairs and requested that either my mother or my father take me to the local science museum. Both of my parents were shocked by my demand, as I've always had a special loathing for science, but when I continued to insist, they both agreed that my mother would drive me to the museum that day.

When we arrived, I quickly sought out a professor working there. Though it took me forever, I was able to convince him that the diamond was genuine and could truly revive the dead. He and his colleagues said they'd take it off my hands so that they could restore it to its original powers. We finally came to the compromise that I would give them the diamond, and in turn, when they restored it, the first person they would revive would be Inuyasha.

I became famous overnight for my discovery on how to reawaken the dead. I was called to be on news shows all over the country. I would answer everyone's annoying questions on what the Land of the Dead was like, but none of that mattered to me.

All I wanted was Inuyasha back.

And then I got the news.

Three months after I donated the diamond, I received a letter in the mail from the museum. My heart swelled with joy when I saw it. _They must've found a way to restore it,_ I thought to myself. _Maybe I can see Inuyasha again._ But when I opened the letter, I'd never faced more heartache in my entire life.

To sum it all up, there was no way to revive Inuyasha. The diamond would never work again.

I couldn't bare my pain anymore. My longing, my need, and my love for my Inuyasha couldn't be contained any longer. I knew I had to be with him, forever. Our separation was devouring my heart, which was completely devoid of hope. So what did I do? I went to him. I went to my Inuyasha, because I understood now I should've never left him in the first place.

I went to spend my life with him by taking my own life away.

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A/N: What do you think? Please review! It will make me so happy! (And it'll help me spite my English teacher!)


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